Adhesive applying devices

ABSTRACT

An adhesive applying device for a shoe lasting machine with heated nozzles, each nozzle having outlets and an inlet through which a solid rod of thermoplastic adhesive is fed for melting in the nozzle and extrusion through the outlets onto the generally flat forepart of a shoe insole bottom.

United States Patent 2,762,716 9/ 1956 Mackenzie Gerard J. MarquisArlington, Mass. 733,573

May 31, 1968 Apr. 20, 1971 USM Corporation Flemington, NJ.

Inventor Appl, No. Filed Patented Assignee ADHESIVE APPLYING DEVICES 2Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

us. Cl

Int. Cl

Field of 412,411, 3, (SCM Dig); 12/10.5, 12.5

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary Examiner-John P. McIntoshAtt0rneysW. Bigelow Hall, Richard A. Wise and Vincent A.

White ABSTRACT: An adhesive applying device for a shoe lasting machinewith heated nozzles, each nozzle having outlets and an inlet throughwhich a solid rod of thermoplastic adhesive is fed for melting in thenozzle and extrusion through the outlets onto the generally flatforepart of a shoe insole bottom.

PATENTEUAPR20|971 3:575:13?

' SHEET 1 0F 2 [nuen for Gerard J Marquis 55/ his flizornc ADHESIVEAPPLYING DEVICES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the InventionThe invention relates generally to improvements in adhesive applyingdevices for shoe lasting machines. In particular, the improvement isdirected to nozzles adapted to apply molten thermoplastic adhesive alongthe margin of the generally flat forepart of an insole bottom forsecuring the forepart margin of a lasted shoe upper to the bottom of theinsole.

2. Description of the Prior Art Thermoplastic adhesives are commonlyused to secure portions of the margins of lasted shoe uppers to thebottom of insoles. To obtain optimum benefits from such adhesives it hasbeen found most advantageous to apply the adhesive in a molten conditionduring the lasting operation. Devices for applying thermoplastic cementin lasting machines have been developed of the type shown in US. Pat.No. 3,422,797 granted in the name of Karl V. Becker. Such a deviceprovides for a nonadjustable nozzle which is suitable for applyingcement about the toe end of the insole bottom extending heelwardly onlyabout to the tip line of the shoe where the contours of shoes of variousstyles and sizes do not vary to any great degree. The tip line iscommonly understood in the shoemaking art to extend widthwiseapproximately at the midpoint of the generally flat forepart of thebottom of the shoe. The opposite sides of the shoe at the tip line aresubstantially equidistant from the centerline of the forepart and havethe same general shape for right and left shoes. However, the marginalcontour of the remainder of the generally flat forepart of the insoleextending heelwardly from the tip line to about the ball line of shoeswhere the shoe bottom curves heightwise toward the heel end; variesconsiderably between sizes, styles and especially rights and lefts.

It would be possible to provide a nozzle such as shown in the Beckerpatent which extended heelwardly to the ball line, but it would beimpractical due to the necessity of changing such a noule whenever adifferent size and/or style shoe was to be operated upon. Furthermore,since right and left shoes vary drastically in contour, separatemachines would need to be provided for right and left shoes or suchshoes would need to be processed separately. This would not beeconomical either in investment for machinery or in manpower.

As a partial solution to this problem particularly related to theforepart of shoes, thermoplastic cement has been preapplied to theinsole in this area and allowed to harden as a separate operation beforethe lasting operation. The cement was activated by the application ofheat by units such as disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,302,225. Such heatunits were adapted to be adjusted to the contour of various sizes,styles and right and left shoes. Such a solution, however, required aseparate adhesive applying and drying step and could not take fulladvantage of the qualities and economics of thermoplastic adhesives.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the inventionto provide a device which is capable of applying molten adhesive to aninsole bottom along the entire margin of the generally flat forepart ofthe insole. To this end the machine is provided with a nozzle similar tothat disclosed in the Becker patent for applying adhesive around the toeend of the insole to about the tip line and is also provided with a pairof adjustable nozzles which apply adhesive heelwardly along oppositesides of the insole to the ball line. The pair of nozzles are curved tosuit the average side contour of a wide variety of shoe styles and alsoare adjustable widthwise to suit both right and left shoes alternately.

The above and other objects and features together with novel details ofconstruction will now be described with particular reference to theembodiment shown in the drawings and thereafter pointed out in theclaims.

LII

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a side elevation of a shoesupporting and adhesive applying means for a lasting machine embodyingthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the mechanism shown in FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the mechanism shown in FIG. 2 withadhesive applying nozzles in a neutral position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but with the mechanism adjusted foroperating on a left shoe;

FIG. 5 is a section on line V-V of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a section on line VI-VI of FIG. 4.

A typical machine with which the adhesive applying mechanism of thepresent invention may be employed is described in US. Pat. No. 3,164,852granted .Ian. 12, 1965 in the name of R. M. Bowler et al. The machineincludes a shoe rest 2 (FIGS. 1 and 2 and referred to by the samereference character in said patent) which supports a last on which anupper and an insole are loosely assembled to position the lastheightwise as well as to support it against the action on the upper of atoe gripper and a plurality of side grippers (not shown). The machine isalso provided with wipers 4 which act after the grippers have tensionedthe upper to wipe the upper downwardly over the sides of the last andinwardly over the bottom of the insole on the last. The margin of thelasted upper is secured to the bottom of the insole by a band ofthermoplastic adhesive which is applied to the generally flat forepartof the insole before the wipers move the upper inwardly over the bottomof the insole on the last. As disclosed herein, the mechanism forapplying the thermoplastic adhesive comprises a gcnerallyV-shaped toenozzle member 6 which engages the bottom of the insole around the toeend to about the tip line of the shoe and a pair of adjustable sidenozzles 8 which engage the insole bottom along opposite sides heelwardlyto about the ball line of the shoe.

The toe nozzle is generally similar to that disclosed in said Beckerpatent and comprises a V-shaped nozzle member 10 which is removablysecured to the upper side of a holder 12. The holder is supported on aflange 14 of a sleeve 16 for universal self-leveling action by means ofa post 18 secured to the flange and springs 20 which surround guide rods22 and are disposed between the lower ends of bosses 24 on the holderand the flange 14. At their upper ends the guide rods 22 are looselysecured to the holder so that the nozzle can tip or rock slightly aboutthe post 18 and thus level itself on the insole bottom on the shoe rest2. The sleeve 16 is slidably mounted on a post 26 which carries the shoerest 2. At the appropriate time in the machine cycle before the inwardwiping movements of the wipers 4 the toe nozzle is moved heightwise intoself-leveling engagement with the insole bottom by a fluid pressurecylinder 28 which acts through a link 30 connected to the sleeve.

The side nozzles 8 each comprise a nozzle portion 32 which has acurvature (FIGS. 2-4) which generally corresponds to the averagecurvature of the sides of shoes from about the tip line to about theball line. As seen in FIG. 5, the nozzle portion 32 is secured to a body34 by a T-slot connection. At its toeward end the body is mounted on theupper end of a post 36 which is mounted for rotation in a bracket 38.The post is connected to the body 34 by a pin and slot connection 40which, as seen in FIG. 5, permits downward motion from the positionshown against the action of a spring 42 extending between the body and aflange 44 of the post. The flange 44 is supported on an arm 46 whichrests on the upper surface of the bracket 38 as best seen in FIGS. 1 and5. The post extends downwardly through an ear on the bracket and has acompressed spring 48 extending between a collar 50 and the under side ofthe ear to yieldingly maintain the post in the position shown. Theheelward end of the body 34 is supported on the upper end of a post 51(FIG. 1) by a pin and slot connection 52. The post 51 is provided with aspring 54 which urges the body 34 heightwise as limited by theconnection 52. A flange 56 of the post rests on the heelward end of thearm 46 and the post passes through the arm and is connected to one endof a link 57, (See also FIGS. 2-4) the other end of the link beingconnected to one arm of an adjusting lever 58. The adjusting lever 58 ispivoted at 59 on a portion of the bracket 38 and, as seen by comparingFIGS. 2 and 4, is adapted to swing the side nozzles about the posts 36widthwise in unison to adjust the nozzles to apply adhesive on right andleft shoes alternately. The lever 58 is provided with a handle 60 whichwhen swung to the left as seen in FIG. 2 adjusts the nozzles to operateon a right shoe. By swinging the handle to the right as seen in FIG. 4,the nozzles may be adjusted to operate on a left shoe.

For moving the side nozzles bodily heightwise into and out of engagementwith the insole bottom the bracket 38 is secured to a plate 62 (FIG. I).The plate is provided with depending rods 64 arranged to slideheightwise in suitable bearings 66 in a main bracket 68 fixed to aportion of the machine frame. The upper end of a piston rod 70 of acylinder 72 is fixed to the plate 62. The lower end of the cylinder isfixed at 74 to the bracket 68. The cylinder is provided with ports 76,78 for causing movement of the piston rod heightwise. By admitting fluidunder pressure through the port 76 the nozzles 8 are moved up intoengagement with the insole bottom and by admitted fluid under pressureinto the port 78 while exhausting the port 76 the nozzles are moved downfrom the insole and out ofinterference with the inwiping movement of themargin of the lasted upper.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the forepart nozzle 6 is movedheightwise into engagement with the insole bottom at the appropriatetime in the machine cycle by the cylinder 28 while the side nozzles 8are moved up at the same time into engagement with the insole bottom bythe cylinder 72. The noules by their flexible mountings areself-leveling on the insole bottom to accommodate any slight curvatureof the generally flat forepart of the insole. In addition, the sidenozzles 8 may be adjusted differentially widthwise in unison as seen bya comparison of FIGS. 2 and 4, to accommodate right and left shoes.After the nozzles are moved up into engagement with the insole bottom,adhesive is extruded from the nozzles 6 and 8 to apply a band ofadhesive along the margin of the generally flat forepart of the insolebottom to about the ball line where the insole bottom curves heightwisetoward the heel end of the shoe. To this end, the side nozzles 32 (FIG.are each provided with a channel 80 along which molten adhesive can flowfrom outlet openings 82. The outlets 82 lead from a closed channel 84 innozzle 32 which in turn communicates with a melting passage 86 in thebody 34. The lower end of passage 86 also fonns an inlet which isconnected by a fitting 90 to a flexible tube 91 of non-heat-conductingmaterial. The fitting 91 is connected to one end of a coil 92 of heatconductive material which surrounds the tube 9| and is connected at theother end to a fitting 94. The fitting 94 is secured to the tube 9?. andthe coil 92 acts as a spring which is slightly stretched to urge thetube firmly into the fitting 90. In addition to holding the tube 91 inthe fitting 90 the coil 92 also radiates any heat that may be conductedfrom the body 34 along fitting 90 to maintain the upper end of the tube91 in relatively cool condition. Thermoplastic adhesive in solid rodform 95 is fed from a reel 97 (FIG. I) through the tube 91 and inletpassage 86. The body 34 ofeach nozzle is provided with a heating element88 and as the solid rod 95 is fed through the inlet passage 86 it ismelted progressively and extruded in molten condition through theoutlets 82. There is shown in FIG. 1 a suitable rod feeding device whichis remote from the nozzles in any convenient location in the machine andwhich includes motors I00 and feed wheels 102 which engage and feedadhesive rods through the tubes 91 to both side nozzles 8. The adhesivefeeding and extruding means for the toe nozzle 6 is identical to thatprovided for the side nozzles 8 and need not be further describedherein.

The nozzle arrangement above described is adapted to apply moltenadhesive to a wide variety of shoe styles as well as to riggt and leftshoes alternately by adjustment of the handle 60. y reference to FIG. 1it is apparent that a small size shoe such as that shown in full linesdoes not completely cover the side nozzles 8, whereas a larger size shoeas shown in dash lines does. To prevent excessive adhesive beingextruded from the side nozzles 8 and spilling over into the mechanism ofthe machine when a small size shoe is being operated upon, the heelwardoutlets of each side nozzle 8 is provided with individual valves as bestseen in FIG. 6. Each valve is provided with a flange 96 adapted to closeits associated outlet and is received in the channel portion 84 of thenozzle. Each valve is also provided with a grooved stem 98 whichnormally extends upwardly through an outlet and above the top of thenozzle 32. A spring 100 underlies the flange 96 urging the valve intoclosed condition. As seen in FIG. 6, the heelmost valve is not engagedby the insole bottom, whereas the stems 98 adjacent thereto in a toewarddirection are engaged and depressed to open the valves to permitextrusion of adhesive through the associated outlets 82. Thus, it shouldbe apparent that each of the nozzles 8 is adapted automatically toaccommodate a variety of shoe sizes while minimizing excessive wastageof adhesive.

It should be obvious that the foregoing is intended to describe onepreferred embodiment of the invention and that numerous substitutions ofvarious elements embodied in the illustrative device may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as set forth in the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for lasting shoes in which the margin of the forepart ofa lasted shoe upper is adhesively secured to the forepart margin of aninsole bottom, said machine having a generally V-shaped heated nozzleengageable with the toe end of the insole bottom for applying a band ofadhesive along the margin around the toe end of the generally flatforepart of the insole bottom, the improvement comprising a pair ofelongate heated nozzles engageable with the insole bottom along themargin at opposite sides of said generally flat forepart and extendingfrom the heelward end of said V-shaped nozzle to the heelward end ofsaid flat forepart where the insole curves heightwise toward the heelend of the shoe,

means for differentially adjusting each of said pair of nozzleswidthwise of the shoe for general alignment with the marginal contoursof the insoles of right and left shoes alternately,

each nozzle having outlets in the area engageable with the insole bottomand an inlet, and

means for feeding a solid rod of thermoplastic adhesive through theinlet of each nozzle whereby solid adhesive rods are progressivelymelted in said V-shaped nozzle and said pair of nozzles and extrudedfrom the outlets to apply a substantially continuous band of moltenadhesive along the margin of the generally flat forepart of the insolebottom.

2. A machine according to claim I in which the differential adjustingmeans for each of the pair of nozzles includes means mounting saidnozzles for swinging movements widthwise of the shoe about axes adjacentto the heelward end of said V- shaped nozzles for aligning the nozzlesgenerally with the marginal contours of the insoles of right and leftshoes alternately.

1. In a machine for lasting shoes in which the margin of the forepart ofa lasted shoe upper is adhesively secured to the forepart margin of aninsole bottom, said machine having a generally V-shaped heated nozzleengageable with the toe end of the insole bottom for applying a band ofadhesive along the margin around the toe end of the generally flatforepart of the insole bottom, the improvement comprising a pair ofelongate heated nozzles engageable with the insole bottom along themargin at opposite sides of said generally flat forepart and extendingfrom the heelward end of said Vshaped nozzle to the heelward end of saidflat forepart where the insole curves heightwise toward the heel end ofthe shoe, means for differentially adjusting each of said pair ofnozzles widthwise of the shoe for general alignment with the marginalcontours of tHe insoles of right and left shoes alternately, each nozzlehaving outlets in the area engageable with the insole bottom and aninlet, and means for feeding a solid rod of thermoplastic adhesivethrough the inlet of each nozzle whereby solid adhesive rods areprogressively melted in said V-shaped nozzle and said pair of nozzlesand extruded from the outlets to apply a substantially continuous bandof molten adhesive along the margin of the generally flat forepart ofthe insole bottom.
 2. A machine according to claim 1 in which thedifferential adjusting means for each of the pair of nozzles includesmeans mounting said nozzles for swinging movements widthwise of the shoeabout axes adjacent to the heelward end of said V-shaped nozzles foraligning the nozzles generally with the marginal contours of the insolesof right and left shoes alternately.